SHANMUGAM IAS ACADEMY

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

'One-rank, one-pension' demand of ex-servicemen accepted

After
Rahul Gandhi's push, the govt accepted the long-standing demand of
ex-servicemen for 'one-rank, one-pension' and allocated Rs 500 crore for the
fund, a decision that is expected to benefit around 30 lakh
retired personnel of the Armed forces.

However,
the armed forces were not sure whether the amount would be sufficient to fully
implement the scheme that will come into effect from 2014-15 as they feel the
requirement would be nearly five times the amount. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while
presenting the Vote-on-Account in the Lok Sabha on Monday, said, "I am
happy to announce that the government has accepted the principle of 'one-rank,
one-pension' for the Defence forces. This decision will be implemented
prospectively from the financial year 2014-15."

The
requirement for 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 500 crore and "as an earnest of
the UPA government's commitment, I propose to transfer a sum of Rs 500 crore to
the Defence Pension Account in the current financial year itself." The
announcement, which is likely to benefit around 3 million defence pensioners,
comes days after Rahul Gandhi assured a delegation of ex-servicemen that he
supported their demand and would do "all that I can to see that your demands
are met".

Chidambaram
said the two UPA governments had made changes in the pension rules for defence
services on three occasions but some gaps remained in the ranks of 'Sepoy' and
'Naik' among non-officers and 'Major' and above among officers. "We need a young fighting force, we need
young jawans and we need young officers. We also need to take care of those who
served in the defence forces only for a limited numbers of years. The
Government has therefore decided to walk the last mile and closed the gap for
all retirees in all ranks," he announced.

Rahul
hailed as historic the decision on the 'one-rank, one-pension' demand.